For two members of the Portland Winterhawks, the start of the season is in some ways bittersweet.
As 20-year-olds, Alex Schoenborn and Blake Heinrich know the 2015-16 Western Hockey League season will be the end of junior hockey for them.
It’s also an important chance to enhance the prospect of a successful professional hockey career.
“It’s a weird feeling,” Schoenborn said. “It feels like yesterday that I came in as a young guy looking to the older guys and trying to learn all that I could.”
Schoenborn, a San Jose 2014 draft pick who recently returned from his second Sharks training camp, will be looked to for leadership on and off the ice for a Winterhawks team that must replace a trio of dynamic offensive players.
A midseason injury last season interrupted a promising year for the right winger from North Dakota. Now healthy, the 6-foot-1, 199-pound power forward aspires to be a game-changer in his third full season with the Winterhawks.
“I need to be stronger on the puck, stronger on my stick,” Schoenborn said, explaining the feedback Sharks coaches gave him.
Winterhawks coach Jamie Kompon believes a healthy Schoenborn will be an important piece of his team.
“He’s a bull. He provides that physical element, that work ethic that we preach to our players,” Kompon said. “He was having a great season until he had his injury. Hopefully we can get him back to that level once again.”
Heinrich was drafted in 2013 by Washington, but was not signed the Capitals. He called not signing a “kick in the butt” that motivates him to improve all areas of his game. Leg strength, he said, was a focus of his summer training as he tries to improve his speed.
Like Schoenborn, Heinrich expects to lead both on and off the ice.
Kompon will certainly expect leadership from the Hawks two 20-year-olds. WHL teams are allied to carry three players of hockey age 20. Like last season, Portland begins the year with only two overage players. Kompon said the team might take the same approach as last year when they acquired overage defenseman Adam Henry at midseason.
“It makes me sad a little bit that my junior (career) is coming to an end, but I just want to give it my all and hopefully it works out for the best,” Heinrich said.
Portland at Victoria, 7:05 p.m. Friday
Listen: AM 860.
Watch: WHL Live (subscription internet stream)
